Two-way sign-printing press



c. w. TURNER. TWO-WAY SIGN PRINTING PRESS APPLICATION FILED APR. 26,192].

' Patented Dec; 27, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEEI 1.

c. w. TURNER; l

TWO-WAY SIGN PRINTING PRESS.

' APPLICATION FILED APR. 26, I921. 1,401,570. f Patented Dec. 27, 1921'.

M 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2. 2

C. W. TURNER.

TWO-WAY SIGN PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 26, I921.

Patented De.2.7, 1921.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

@W WW 5: W W. 'IHW' W IZ g 23 APPLICATION FILED. ARR. 26, I92I.

C. W. TURNER. TWO-WAY SIGN PRINTING PRESS.

Patented Dec. 27 ,I 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- UITED cEniaLEs w.. TURNER,

or MASSILLON, orno, assrenon To nAssrtLoN-cLEvELANnr ant ornc E.

AKRON-SIGN COMPANY, or MASSILLON, onto. A CORPORATION...

TWO-WAY SIGN-PRINTING PRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 2'7, 19 21.

' Application filed April 26, 1921. Serial No. 464,576.

making cylinder, the object of the inventionbeing to provide a press of this character which embodies novel features of construction wherebya finished printing impression is made for each movement of the reciproeating bed in either direction.

In previous printing machines of this character, such as that disclosed in Patent #1,060,578 to W. M. Bacon and that disclosed in Patent #547A09 to Banta and Black, an'arrangement is provided for lifting the printing cylinder when the bed moves in one direction and lowering it to make an impression when the bed moves in 1 the other direction. With these old constructions a complete back and forth movement of the bed is necessary for each printing impression, while with thenew construc tion disclosed by this application a finished printing impression is made for each moveinent'of the reciprocating bed in either direction, thereby practically doubling the possible output of the machine.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a sign printing machine of this character which is dependable in its operation, which enables accurate and clear-cut impressions to be made, which enables a plu rality of printing impressions to be made in different colors at the same time when producingcertain kinds of work, and which is semi-automatic in its action so that sign and poster work can be produced, economically and in'a minimum amount of time.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain combinations, arrangements and associations of the parts, as will be more fully pointed out as the description proceeds, the novel features thereof being set forth in the appended claims. V For a full understanding reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings in which: 7 I

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sign printing machine constructed in accordance with the invention. y

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1, looking in the, direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a detail view'of the -cablev nections for driving the reciprocating .bed and transmittingmotion from the bed to the reciprocating cylinder. y 1

Fig. 5 is a detail View of oneend of; the printing machine, showing one of theink fountains and the trip mechanism for automatically raising and-lowering the ink distributing roller.

the line 6-6 of Fig. 1, showing the driving vmechanism for the reciprocating bed.

Figs. 7 and 8 are detail views of the belt shifting device.

cylinder, one of the printing surfaces or dies being shown as partially removed therefrom. Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all of the views of the drawingsby. reference characters. I

Referring in detail'to the drawings, which illustrate one possible embodiment of the invention, the numeral 1 designates the supporting frame. 2 a bed which is mounted to reciprocate backhand forth upon the 'supporting frame, and 3a printing cylinder which is mounted over the reciprocating bed at a point about midway of the; backand forth traveling thereof. The supporting frame is of an elongated formationand is provided at the .top thereof with the two parallel side rails which are engaged by the supporting wheels or rollers 5e of the bed 2, whereby the bed isproperly supported and directed in its back and forth movements. The bed 2 is provided with a-pluralitv of tables which are adjustably mounted thereon so that theycan eachbe accurately positioned in the proper manner for of the invention Fig. 9 is adetail view of the printing 7 Fig. 6 .is an enlarged sectional view .on

rived from an electric motor 11.

necessary manner to properly adjust the tables.

The printing cylinder 3 is jou-rnaledbe.

tween the standards 9 which project upwardly from opposite sides of the supporting frame 1 at substantially the middle portion thereof. The upper ends of these standards are shown as provided with bearings 10 which carry the cylinder 3 and which can be moved up and down in the usual manner for the purpose of properly adjusting the cylinder. The back and forth movement of the reciprocating bed under the printing cylinder is such that at the beginning and end of each movement the cylinder engages one of the end tables 7 so that the printing surface thereon is supplied with ink or paint from 'the said table. One of the end tables 7'is brought under the printing cylinder just before the reciprocating bed reaches the limit of its movement in one direction, while the other table 7 is brought under the printing cylinder just before the reciprocating bed reaches the limit of its movement in the other direction. The printing cylinder is thus supplied with ink or paint so that an impres'sion can be made upon a sheet of metal, glass, wood or other substance which has been placed upon the intermediate impression table 6. The provision of the two end tables 7 which operate to supply paint or ink to the cylinder at each limit of movement of the reciprocating bed thus enables a complete printing impression to be produced for each movement of the reciprocat ing bed in either direction. As previously explained this very materially increases the output of work and practically doubles the output which is possiblewith the old type of machine. in which a complete back and forth movement of the reciprocating bed is necessary for each impression.

During the operation of the printing machine the reciprocating bed is automatically moved back and forth and no attention to the driving mechanism is required on the part of the operator or attendant. Any suitable'means may be provided for driving the printing machine, and with the construction which has been illustrated the power is de- From this motor power is transmitted by means of the two belts 12. and 13, of which the latter is crossed, to a counter shaft 14 which is journ'aled in suitable bearings in the main frame 'and'is provided with the two fixed pulleys '15, and the intermediate loose pulley 1.6. The

indicated at 18, to a transversely disposed drive shaft 19 which is located under the reciprocating bed 2, being journaled upon the supporting frame 1 at substantially the middle portion thereof. A drum 20 is fixed upon the drive shaft 19 and has a cable 21 partially wound thereon. The ends of the cable are extended in opposite directions and have the extremities thereof secured to downwardly extending brackets 22 projecting from opposite ends of the reciprocating beds. A- trip lever 23 is arranged at'each end of the supporting frame 1 and projects into the. path of the reciprocating bed. The lower end of each trip lever is pivoted at 24E-to the supporting frame, while the upper end thereof is provided with a triangular block 25 which is adapted to be engaged by the reciprocating bed, and which is so constructed that the engaging face thereof is substantially vertically disposed after the lever has been swung in the manner necessary to actuate the belt shifter and reverse the direction of movement of the bed (see Fig. The two trip levers 23 are suitably connected by a rod or cable 26 so that they move in unison the intermediate portion of the connecting rod or cable engaging a bell crank lever 27 which a ct-uates the belt shifter 17 (see Figs. 7 and 8). The shifting of the belts reverses the direction of rotation'of the counter shafts l4 and causes the reciprocating bed to be moved in the opposite direction. The two trip levers thus operate to automatically reverse the movement of the re- A i v u u ciprocating bed when it reaches the limits of its movement in both directions, and the back and forth movements of the bed are produced automatically.

The printing cylinder 3 is rotated as the reciprocating bed moves back and forth, and in order that accurate printing impressions may be made it is obviously necessary for the movement of theprinting cylinder to be in perfect synchronism with those of the bed. One end of the printing cylinder is provided with a drum'28 upon which the intermediate portion of a second cable 29 is wound. the ends ofthe cable extendingin opposite directions from the drum and having the extremities thereof secured to brackets 30 which project upwardly from the ends of the reciprocating bed 2. The printing cylinder isthusdriven from the reciprocating bed, and the movements of the two members-are in perfect synchronism with each other, with the result that the printingsurface of the cylinder always maintains the same relation to the impression table 6.

The necessary accurate registry can thus be obtained for doing work in two or more colors.

Any suitable means may be provided for supplying ink or paint to the end tables 7. andthe term ink" as used in the specification and claims is intended to include" any analogous substance such as paint, varnish or crayon which might be used in connectic'n with a printing surface or die for making an impression frointhe die. For the purpose of illustration, conventional ink fountains 38 are shown as applied to the supporting frame at opposite'ends thereof and arranged to automatically supply one of the end tables 7 with ink or paint'for each I movement-of the reciprocating bed ineither direction The ink fountains comprise the usual troughs and rollers and need not be described in detail, since they do not constitute any part of the present invention,

and any equivalent ink or paint applying means can be substituted. The fountains, however, are preferably only operative during the movement of the bed in one direction. For this purpose the distributing rollers 33 thereof are shown as carried by bell crank levers 34, "said levers having downwardly extending arms which are engaged by a trip rod 35. This rod extends longitudinally of the frame (see Fi s. 1 and f),

being supportedby suitable guide members and terminating at its extremitiesin heads or trip members 36 wh1ch are arranged to be engaged by the reciprocating bed Zjustas.

it reaches the limit of its movement in either direction. -The' distributing roller 33 of the fountain is thus in a lowered position so as to supply ink or paint to the table 7 as the table passes under the fountain in-its movement away from the printing cylinder and toward the endof the frame. vAfter the said end table has been supplied with ink or paint fromthe fountain the reciprocating bed'reaches the'limit ofits movement and the trip mechanism is operated to lift the distributing roller of the said ink fountain. At the same time the distributing roller of the ink fountain at the opposite end of the machine is lowered so that it will engage the other end table 7 and impart a fresh supply of ink thereto before the bed reaches the limit of its movement in the other direction.

The cylinder 3 may be provided with one or more printing surfaces 87 which may be molded, out or formed in any suitable man ner from any suitable material, and which arev preferably wrapped around the cylinder and detachably secured-thereto. The printing surfaces can thus be changed as often as .complished is indicated by Fig.2. The

ink fountains at the ends of the printing machine are each shown as formed 'intwo sections, so that each of the end tables" 7 will receive red ink or paint at one side thereofas indicated at B, and blue ink or paint on the opposite side thereof, 'asindicated at B. The arrangement is thus such that the printing surface 87f for the border will receive red ink or-paint from the tables 7, and the printing surface 3'7 for the'words will receive blue ink or paint.

The intermediate table 6 which constitutes the impression table will receive two plates 40 and i1, and these plates will be held in proper position upon the table by suitable positioning means such as thepins 4L2. The plate 40 is a plain plate and is-placed in position to pass under the printingsurface 37 and have a red border printed thereon. The plate 41 is one which has just gone through the press and has hada border printed thereon .upon the previous movement of the reciprocating bed 2, said jplatewhaving been 7 shifted to its present position'upon the inter mediate table 6 from the position now occupied by the plate 40. The plate 43, shown aboveithe printingma-chine on Fig. 2, is one whichhas just been removed from the position. occupied by the plate tl and which has 105 received impressions upont-he last two mover ments of the reciprocating-bed, the first impression being that of the border, while the second impression wasvthat of the words within theborder. Upon-the movement of the reciprocating bed to the oppositesideof d1, so that before the'freverse.movement'of,

the bed, it willbeshifted to theopposite side of the tableand a plain-plate substituted in its place. It will. thus .beobvious that .120 with the arrangement shown, two. complete printing 2 impressions are made/upon each movement of the reciprocating.bedin either direction, and it will be obvious that by suitable arrangements anynumber of plates can .12 5

-be printedupon or impressions imade, de-

pendingupon thesize and capacity of: the

machine, and the done.

character ofq 'work being he. p tic lar, I r1ial i o 1 he print .130

ing machine'whic'h I have shown and desc ibed is to be considered in an illustrative rather than in a restrictive sense, since it will be obvious that many. alterations and changes are possible in the details thereof without departing in any manner from the spirit of the invention.

Having, thus described my invention what I claim'as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A printinginachine of the character described, includin a. printing cylinder, a reciprocating impression table movable back and forth under the printing cylinder, and means connected to and movable with the table for inking the cylinder after the iir pression table has passed under the same in either direction, whereby a complete printing impression may be made upon the movement of the table in either direction.

2. A printing machine of the character described, including a printing cylinder, a reciprocating impression table movable back and forth under the printing cylinder, and inking members IIlOVfl-blQ with the table and arranged at opposite ends thereof so that the cylinder will be inked after the impression table has passed under the same in either direction, thereby enabling a complete printing impression to be made upon the movement of thetablein either direction. .3. A printing machine of the character described, including a printing cylinder, a reciprocating impression table movable back and forth under the printing cylinder, and inking tables arranged at opposite ends of the impression table for alternate engagement with the printing cylinder to ink the same upon each movement of the table in either direction, thereby enabling a complete printing'impression to be made upon each movement of the impression table in either direction.

4;. A printing machine of the character described, including a printing cylinder, a

reciprocating carriage mounted to move back and forth under the cylinder, spaced inking tables upon the carriage, an impression table arranged intermediate the inking tables, and means for independently adjustingthe tables upon the carriage, the provision of the two inking tables enabling a complete printing impression to be made upon each movement of the carriage in either direction.

5.- A printing 'mach-i'ne of the character described, including a printing cylinder, a reciprocating impression table movable back and forth under the printing cylinder, inking tables arranged upon opposite sides of the impression table and movable therewith, and means for automatically supplying ink to one of the tables upon each movement of the tables in either direction, the provision of the two inking tables enabling a complete printing impression to be made, uponeach movement of the impression table.

6. A printing machine of the character described, including a printing cylinder, a reciprocatitng impression table movable back and forth under theprinting cylinder,

- inking tables movable with the impression and'forthunder the printing cylinder, inking tables movable with the impression table and arranged upon opposite sides thereof for alternate engagement with the printing cylinder, fountains arranged uponopposite sides of the printing cylinder for supplying ink to the corresponding inking tables, and means for rendering the fountains inoperative upon the movement of the tables in one direction and operative upon the'movement of the tables'in the other direction, theprovision of the two inking tables enabling a complete printing impression to be made upon each movement of the impression table.

in either direction.

8. A printing machine of the character described, including a printing cylinder, a reciprocating ,carriage movable back and forth under the printing cylinder,- three tables mounted upon the carriage, the intermediate table constituting an impression table while the end tables constitute inking tables, meansfor independently adjusting the tables upon the carriage, and means for supplying ink to the corresponding inking tables as the latter approach the limits of their movements away from-the printing cyl inder, the provision of the two inking tables enabling a complete printing impression to be made upon each movement'of the impression table in either direction.

9. A printing machine of the character 10. A printing machine of the character described including a printing cylinder provided with a plurality of independent printing surfaces, a reciprocating impression table movable back and forth under the printing cylinder, inking tables movable with the impression table and arranged upon opposite ends thereof for alternate engage- V ment with the printing cylinder, and means upon opposite sides of the printing cylinder for supplying different colors of ink to the respective printing tables as the latter approach the limits of their movements away from the printing cylinder, the different colors of inks being applied to the different surfaces of the cylinder and the provision of the two inking tables enabling a complete printing impression to be made from each of the printing surfaces upon each movement of the impression table in either direction.

11. A printin machine of the character described, inclu ing a printing cylinder, a reciprocating impression table movable back and forth under the printing cylinder, and a pair of independent inking means acting alternately to ink the printing cylinder as the impression table is'moved in opposite directions, thereby enabling a complete printing impression to be made upon the movement of the table in either direction.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CHARLES W. TURNER. 

